Belfast

Hey Everybody-
Sorry for the delay in posts. School is getting a little hectic with exams coming up soon so I will try to catch you up on what has been happening as best I can...

A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Belfast with my friend Meredith. We had a long weekend so we took the train/bus up north on Friday and came back on Monday night. The trip was a lot of fun. I took a class on the conflict in Northern Ireland last year so I was really excited to go and actually see the places about which I had been learning. Everything in the city is pretty much within walking distance and we got to see a lot of really interesting stuff in the two days that we were there.

On the first day, we walked around the city and saw a lot of the main attractions. Since Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. they have a lot of little tributes to London like smaller versions of Big Ben and the London Eye.

City Hall:


"Little" Ben:



"Belfast" Eye:



After that, we took a Black Taxi Tour which takes you to the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods of the city where all of the paramilitary murals are located.

Bobby Sands Mural:


Tribute to the Hunger Strikers:


The next day we started out with a trip to Belfast Castle. The castle is located on a big hill above the city and the view up there is amazing. The grounds of the castle are also really beautiful:





After the Castle, we took a tour of Titanic Quarter. The Titanic was built in Belfast so we got to go see the shipyard and go inside the buildings where everything was done. Then we took a trip to Queens University and walked around the Botanic Gardens:

Titanic's Dock:


Queen's University:


Botanic Rose Garden:




That was pretty much the end of our trip. Two days went by pretty quickly but I think we got to see most of Belfast!

Halloween

This is a little bit late but I hope everyone had a good halloween! I was really hoping to get some cute little Irish trick-or-treaters but sadly, none of them came to my house! I did have a lot of fun carving pumpkins though!

Updates

Hey Everyone-
Sorry that there haven't been any new posts lately. I just thought I would post a quick one to let you all know what has been going on in the last two weeks. Unfortunately when I came home last Sunday I found that my house had been broken into and a lot of stuff had been stolen.
Since I no longer have my computer, I just wanted to explain why I may not be posting as frequently in the future. I am also sorry to say that there probably will not be any pictures up for quite a while. This has definitely been a very scary experience but I am very thankful that no one was home when they broke in.

On a brighter note, I took a trip to England this past weekend and visited some friends of mine who are studying in Norwich. It was really nice to see friends from home and I had a lot of fun riding the train and seeing a few places in England.

This coming weekend I am planning on going up to Belfast! It should be a lot of fun and I am really excited to see the murals and explore some of the history of Belfast.

Knitting Project # 2

This week I finished that hat I've been working on! I went out and bought some special wool before I started and it turned out really well! The yarn is really soft and such a pretty color!

The class officially ends next week but I've had a lot of fun so I decided to sign up for the next round of classes as well. The weather has officially started changing this week. The last few days have been pretty cold! It probably won't be too much fun walking home from knitting class on those cold, rainy winter nights, but hopefully it will be worth it and I'll have lots of new knitted garments to keep me warm!

"Kicking the Wall"

In Galway, there is a long promenade that runs alongside the beach. On nice days, people will walk along the promenade until it dead-ends at a wall, then they supposedly "kick" the wall, turn around, and walk back. They call this whole activity, "kicking the wall."

When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining so brightly through my window that I decided it was a good day to take a break fron studying and go out and kick the wall. It was a perfect day for a walk by the beach and everyone was out with their friends, families, and dogs. I didn't see anyone actually kicking any walls (though there were plenty available) but I did see some crazy people swimming in the freezing bay! I'm starting to realize that nice days are a pretty rare commodity around here so I'm glad that I got out to enjoy one before they run out.

Oyster Festival

This past weekend the oyster festival was held in Galway. There were lots of fun street performers, parades, and various other events going on in the city centre. In the spirit of the festival, I decided it was necessary to try oysters for the first time. To say the least, I found them quite unpleasant!

The pictures I've posted are of a very strange parade that was going through town, a ship on display at the docks that was once used in a Marlon Brando film, and, of course, my horrified reaction to the oysters.

Aran Islands

On Friday I headed out to one of the Aran Islands. There are three islands total, but I went to the biggest and most populated one, Inis Mór. The island is about 9 miles long and 2 miles wide. In order to get around the island, you can choose between a minibus tour, renting bikes, or a traditional horse-drawn carriage. I went with a friend and we decided to get bikes and explore the island without a tour guide. The scenery on the island is so beautiful. There are amazing coastal views as well as incredible rural sights. The island has tons of hand-piled stone fences that are held together by nothing but have somehow still managed to stay intact after many years and lots of harsh weather.

One of the main attractions on the island is the ancient aran fort, Dun Aonghasa (pronounced dun angus). It's a large stone fort ruin on the top of a huge cliff. On top of the cliff, there were some amazing views of the island's coast. The islands are also really well known for their aran knit sweaters. There are a lot of little sweater and craft shops set up across the island which are pretty touristy but still fun to see. We picked a really good day to go because it wasn't raining and at times it was almost sunny. We've had a few really nice weeks without rain, but I'm pretty sure that is coming to an end so I'm glad I've been able to fit in a few outdoor trips before the weather interferes.